To ask Her Majesty's Government why the self-evaluation form (SEF) used by schools to prepare for an Ofsted inspection was revised in September 2009 to delete the specific reference to languages and the Department for Children, Schools and Families benchmark for key stage 4, which had been introduced into the SEF in September 2007. [HL1743]

Ofsted's self-evaluation form has been simplified to align with the new inspection evaluation schedule, removing many of the detailed prompts. However, inspections of schools will continue to cover the quality of teaching and learning of the curriculum and how it meets the needs of the pupils, which can include coverage of languages.

Ofsted also continue to carry out its rolling three-yearly subject reports into the teaching of each national curriculum subject, including modern foreign languages. The next one of these for languages is due in the autumn term of 2010.